#Patrick Graham bolts Giants, takes job as Raiders’ D-coordinator

Brian Daboll’s first major decision as head coach of the Giants was to announce he wanted to bring back Patrick Graham as defensive coordinator.

While Daboll’s mind might have been made up, Graham’s evidently was not – Josh McDaniels and the Raiders lured Graham away to be their new defensive coordinator on Friday night, according to NFL Network.

Graham interviewed with the Raiders earlier Friday for the position.

At his introductory press conference, Daboll announced that he would keep Graham as defensive coordinator if he did not get the Vikings head coaching job he was interviewing for. This was prior to Graham interviewing for the Raiders’ coordinator position.

“I’ve had a good relationship with Pat for some time in this league,’’ Daboll said at his introductory press conference. “He’s very diligent. He’s smart. I think the players respect him. He understands different defenses and I have a good working relationship with him. I did when I was back at New England.

“Certainly, we hope that he has an opportunity to become a head coach. I think that’s everybody’s dream, but selfishly, I would love him to be here. He offers a lot to our program. I think he’d be a great support system for me and I’m hoping that that works out.’’

Graham served as the Giants’ defensive coordinator the past two seasons. His decision to leave the team and join the Raiders in a lateral move comes in the wake of Brian Flores’ explosive allegations of racial discrimmination in the Giants’ hiring of Daboll.